Planning and Preservation

The Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation has released the application form for the 2026 funding round of municipal/non-profit open space projects under the Morris County Preservation Trust Fund.  Any of the 39 municipalities in the county and qualified non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for funding. 

In 2026, we are introducing a new application process through the program portal.  A virtual training session will be held on Monday, April 13, 2026 for prospective applicants to explain how to use the portal and what documents are still required in hard copy this year as we transition to this new application process. 

All application materials are due by 4:30 PM on Friday, June 12, 2026.

The 2026 open space application and list of other required application materials can be found online.

Program rules now include costs for demolition and restoration of a property (up to a maximum of 10% of the eligible land cost, or $50,000 whichever is less) as allowable costs under the program.

Please contact Barbara Murray in the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation at (973) 829-8120 or bmurray@co.morris.nj.us for further information on the program or application process. 

Welcome to the 2026 Trail Construction Grant Program! The following are Mandatory steps and absolute deadlines in order to be considered for a 2026 Grant.  

Step 1: Schedule and Attend a Pre-Application Meeting prior to Wednesday, April 15, 2026

• Contact Karl Klingener, Special Projects Manager
  MCTrailGrantProgram@morrisparks.net
  Office: 862-325-7739 (Monday-Friday 07:30a.m. - 4:00p.m.)

Step 2: Register and Attend the Workshop on Tuesday, March 24, 2026

• The Morris County Trail Construction Grant Program Will Host an Application Workshop on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., to review the overall 2026 program and application process. The Workshop will be held virtually via Webex. Please register to attend by completing the Workshop Registration Form.

Step 3: Submit a Letter of Intent(PDF, 376KB)  by 12:00 PM, Friday, May 1, 2026

Step 4: Complete and submit theApplicationthat applies to your projectby 12:00 PM, Friday, June 19, 2026

The Morris County Board of County Commissioners has formally adopted a new and updated official Morris County Map, an important tool for planning and decision making at all levels of government.

Updated from a 2007 version, the new Official Morris County Map outlines and identifies significant aspects of the county’s current landscape. It includes highways, roadways, parks, greenways and sites for public buildings or public works efforts under county jurisdiction, as well as locations where the county has participated or may be called upon to participate in acquisition, financing or construction.

Download a digital copy of the Official Morris County Map

For additional information see the full press release: Morris County Updates Official County Map – Morris County, NJ

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have released revised preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (pFIRMs) and an updated Flood Insurance Study (FIS) for Morris County, formally beginning the federal map adoption process.

Once adopted, the revised flood maps will be used to determine flood insurance requirements and eligibility for disaster relief and mitigation funding. The maps also serve as the most reliable source of flood risk information for communities, particularly when evaluating future development and planning decisions.

NJDEP and FEMA will hold a Consultation Coordination Officer meeting with municipal officials and consultants on Jan. 8, 2026. That meeting will be followed by two public open houses where residents can speak directly with state and federal officials about updated flood hazard information. The first open house will be held Jan. 8, 2026 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy, 500 W. Hanover Ave., Morristown. A second open house will be held Jan. 13, 2026 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Chester Library, 250 West Main Street, Chester.

For more information and to identify affected areas see the press release. 

The start of the 2026 calendar year marks the launch of the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant application cycle. Please note the following key events and deadlines:

• Wednesday, January 28, 2026 — Application Workshop
• Friday, February 27, 2026 — Declaration of Intent Due
• Tuesday, March 31, 2026 — Application Deadline

UPDATE (March 17, 2026): The County will provide a One Drive link through which all Historic Preservation (HP) applicants can submit their applications. We apologize for the inconvenience. The application deadline has been extended to Mar. 31, 2026.

We will advise at a later date when the applicants could provide the 2026 application materials through the program portal.

For the 2026 round, we are introducing a new application process. All submissions (including the Declaration of Intent and application materials) will now be made through an online program portal. A virtual training session for prospective applicants on how to use the portal will be held on Wednesday, February 4, 2026. Additional details are forthcoming, and we will keep all potential applicants informed as we begin using the new platform.

If you have questions about the Historic Preservation Program or the application process, please contact Ray Chang, HP Program Coordinator, at 973-829-8138 or rchang@co.morris.nj.us.

The Census Bureau has released its 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates for geographic areas with a population of 65,000 or more.* The 2024 ACS includes estimates for various topics including income, educational attainment, housing and transportation. Highlights include:

• At $137,623, Morris County had the highest median household income among all 21 counties in New Jersey.
• At 33.2%, Morris County had the highest percentage of households with incomes of $200,000 or more among all the counties in the state.
• At $639,200, Morris County had the third highest median housing value among all the counties in the state.
• At 58.2%, Morris County had the second highest percentage of the population age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher among all the counties in the state.

Updates pertaining to these and other topics have been posted to the Data and Statistics page of this website.  

*There are no municipalities in Morris County with a population of 65,000 or more, so for Morris County, this data applies at the county level only.